The Nassau Survey 



111 



commonwealths, but is a better or- 

 ganized, more economical way of bear- 

 ing an already existing financial burden, 

 and a more equitable distribution of it. 

 "The losses that result from spread- 

 ing venereal infection, from theft, from 



incendiarism and other anti-social ten- 

 dencies of mental defectives should also 

 be included in the reckoning; and, from 

 the standpoint of future generations, 

 their unrestrained propagation, when 

 at large, both in and out of wedlock." 



Infant Welfare Work in War Time 



Now that the United States has 

 entered the war, it is evident that diffi- 

 culties will be encountered in this coun- 

 try similar to those which have been 

 met in the nations already at war. Al- 

 though conditions in other countries are 

 different in many respects from those in 

 this country, a study of foreign material 

 will discover many general tendencies 

 for good which can be imitated and 

 other tendencies which should be 

 avoided. Most noticeable in every war- 

 ring country has been the fact that pro- 

 tection of infancy and maternity has 

 greatly increased in every instance, and 

 the preventive rather than the pallia- 

 tive side has been followed in almost 

 every case by the governments in 

 establishing infant welfare stations, 

 maternity clinics and similar institutions, 

 says Grace L. Meigs in American Journal 

 of Diseases of Children, August, 1917. 



The work done in England is especi- 

 ally interesting. The same urgency 

 has not been felt there as in France 

 because of a higher natural birth rate. 

 Just before the war Parliament was con- 

 sidering making a grant to aid sanitary 

 authorities and the war has had the 

 eflect of directing greatly increased at- 

 tention. The employment of pregnant 

 women and nursing mothers is one of the 

 most vital problems and undoubtedly 

 has a great influence on the infant mor- 

 tality rate. In vScotland about the 

 same ineasures have been carried out as 

 in England. 



In Germany, our knowledge of condi- 

 tions is far less complete, but the same 

 lines seem to be followed out as have 

 been found necessary and advantageous 

 in other nations. France has decided 

 upon four measures. These are: 



1 . The military allowance given to the 

 mother of the children of soldiers 

 whether legitimate or illegitimate. 



2. The government maternity grant, 

 which was established by the act of 

 June 13, 1913. 



3. The grant given by the govern- 

 ment to large families. 



4. The help distributed by the As- 

 sistance publique and by the maternity 

 hospitals, whose object is to enable the 

 mother to care for her baby herself. 



The importance of protecting preg- 

 nant women and nursing mothers in 

 factories is also recognized, but it is 

 thought that not more than 4% of 

 women so employed belong in these two 

 classes. 



Belgium seems to have been able to 

 decrease the infant mortality rate ex- 

 cept in Mons. The work in Italy and 

 Russia is not well enough known to 

 permit definite statements regarding 

 conditions there. In New Zealand and 

 Canada, there is not much evidence 

 that much effort has been made along 

 preventive lines, but there is evidence 

 that the work has suffered from the loss 

 of physicians and nurses called to service. 

 The situation there is somewhat anala- 

 gous to that in the United States, since 

 both are far removed from the scene of 

 conflict. 



To sum up the matter it seems that no 

 hasty conclusions should be drawn as to 

 what is immediately necessary in this 

 country; that the chief preventive mea- 

 sure for protecting babies is to insure 

 their care and nursing by healthy 

 mothers in their own homes ; and that 

 preventive work should be made the 

 central effort. 



